Between my son’s local youth association football games and the Georgia Bulldogs’ first two contests, I haven’t seen much Saturday college football that didn’t involve the Red and Black. This week, though, there wasn’t that much Saturday college football to see, as four of my top 20 teams, including three of my top six, had open dates this weekend. In any case, it’s still a bit early to have a clear picture of which teams are good, and how good they are. Here, for what it is worth, is this week’s BlogPoll ballot:
Dawg Sports Ballot - Week 3
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 2 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 3 | Boise St. Broncos | -- |
| 4 | Oklahoma Sooners | -- |
| 5 | Stanford Cardinal | -- |
| 6 | Wisconsin Badgers |
 1 |
| 7 | Texas A&M Aggies |
 -1 |
| 8 | Florida St. Seminoles |
1 |
| 9 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys |
2 |
| 10 | Oregon Ducks |
2 |
| 11 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
-1 |
| 12 | Virginia Tech Hokies |
-4 |
| 13 | Arkansas Razorbacks | -- |
| 14 | Michigan St. Spartans |
3 |
| 15 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -- |
| 16 | Arizona St. Sun Devils | -- |
| 17 | Houston Cougars |
1 |
| 18 | Baylor Bears |
1 |
| 19 | Auburn Tigers | -- |
| 20 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs |
-6 |
| 21 | South Florida Bulls | -- |
| 22 | West Virginia Mountaineers | -- |
| 23 | Florida Gators | -- |
| 24 | Ohio St. Buckeyes |
-8 |
| 25 | Iowa St. Cyclones | -- |
| Dropouts: Penn St. Nittany Lions, Nevada Wolf Pack, California Golden Bears | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
Once again, the small data set with which we are working prevents us from drawing meaningful conclusions, so, at this point, I’m leaving teams alone unless I’ve been given reasons to move them. (A week or two from now, we’ll start to see more significant reshuffling, I promise.) Here is the gist of my rationale:
- Florida State, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, and Wisconsin inched upward after dominant performances, while Nebraska, Texas A&M, and Virginia Tech slipped slightly due to bye weeks or less than stellar outings.
- Ohio State plummeted after barely surviving a contest against Toledo, while Mississippi State dropped six spots after a narrow loss at Auburn. The Plainsmen were admitted to the poll at No. 19, but the Tigers trail fellow new entrant Arizona State after the Sun Devils took down Missouri in overtime because I have not yet forgotten Auburn’s close shave against Utah State.
- Lopsided losses sustained by Nevada and Penn State cost both teams spots in the rankings, while Cal fell out of the poll after narrowly edging Colorado. This cleared out room for Iowa State to sneak in after upsetting in-state rival Iowa.
I’ll be the first to admit that none of this may make a lick of sense, so feel free to offer constructive criticisms in the comments below. Naturally, once we get deeper into the season---and once everyone has played someone (I’m looking at you, Razorbacks)---there will be some serious rearranging. In the meantime, let me know what doesn’t pass the eyeball test.
Go ‘Dawgs!